


Nani yori mo taisetsu na mono ni natte ta (You’ve become more important than anything else)

by vogue91



Category: Hey! Say! JUMP, Johnny's Entertainment
Genre: Cheesy, Disappointment, Established Relationship, Flashbacks, Fluff, M/M, Rings, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-05
Updated: 2018-07-05
Packaged: 2019-06-05 20:18:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,546
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15178535
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/vogue91/pseuds/vogue91
Summary: “What do you mean you lost it?”Kei’s voice wasn’t expressing all the rage Kota had predicted.It seemed more... sad. Disappointed.Which, in his opinion, was even worse.





	Nani yori mo taisetsu na mono ni natte ta (You’ve become more important than anything else)

“What do you mean you lost it?”

Kei’s voice wasn’t expressing all the rage Kota had predicted.

It seemed more... sad. Disappointed.

Which, in his opinion, was even worse.

He lowered his eyes on the floor and sighed.

“I'm sorry, Kei-chan. I was showering after filming and I took it off to avoid ruining it... when I came back it had disappeared.” he explained, then he got close to him and took his hand. “I’ve looked for it, but I have no idea where it could be. I swear, I didn’t mean to lose it, I always pay attention to it and...” he tried to justify himself, but the younger interrupted him.

“So much that you don’t know where it is.” he murmured, nodding briefly as to say he understood. There were a few moments of silence, during which Yabu didn’t dare saying anything, and in the end Kei started talking again. “It’s okay, Kota. It’s not a problem. I mean, you didn’t lose it on purpose.” he sighed, pulling away from his hold. “I’d say it’s pointless to keep talking about it, right? What’s lost is lost.” he smiled, of a smiled that had nothing sincere about it. “I’ll go make dinner.” he murmured then, heading toward the kitchen and leaving him alone in the living room, with his sorrowful expression.

Yabu felt like an idiot.

He had felt like that since the afternoon, and it had only grown.

How could he have been so stupid to lose the ring Kei had given to him?

He had had it for years now, and during all that time he had never lost sight of it, he paid attention to where he put it when he didn’t have it on, on the thin necklace he almost always had on to avoid losing it.

And because of all those precautions, he didn’t understand how it had happened.

He sat on the couch, closing his eyes and brushing a hand over his face, to fight the coming migraine.

He knew Kei wasn’t happy about it.

No matter how much he could pretend to smile, how much he could tell him that it couldn’t be helped, he knew he was disappointed.

It wasn’t about the ring in itself, he knew it. It was just an object, they didn’t need that to prove they loved each other.

It was about what it meant. It was about when he had given it to him.

The memories it brought along mattered to them, and that was why the younger was now mad at him, and he was mad at himself.

 

_“Ko... I know it’s stupid, but...” Kei handed him a small velvet bag, and Yabu stared at it, puzzled._

_It was his birthday, he turned seventeen, and he had decided to spend the evening with his boyfriend, taking advantage of the fact that neither of them had to work._

_They had arrived at the dorms and were about to go in, when Kei had stopped him and had given him his present._

_“Kei-chan, I... thank you!” he told him, his eyes wide open and a smile on his face._

_When he took the ring out, he stayed still for a few seconds._

_Inoo apparently misunderstood his silence and rushed to explain._

_“I know it’s stupid and cheesy. But... I bought it because it was simple, not too flashy. I thought you could wear it around your neck, but it doesn’t matter if you don’t want to, you can tell me. I... I won't get offended or something.”_

_Yabu shut him up before he could keep ranting; he got closer and hugged him, holding him close without saying a thing._

_When in the end he pulled away, he looked at him as if there was nothing else in the world but him._

_“I love you, Kei.” he murmured, seeing the younger starting to smile more confidently._

_“I love you too, Ko.”_

Yabu sighed.

He remembered that moment down to every detail, he remembered how happy he had felt.

Wearing that ring on his neck made him always feel strangely good, and the fact that he didn’t have it anymore made him feel weird. Empty, as if he was lacking something.

He joined Kei in the kitchen, and saw him busy around the stove.

He stood on the doorstep looking at him, not wanting to bother him.

Or better, he would've, but he was sure that the younger didn’t feel at all like talking to him, not right now.

He felt terribly guilty, and the thought that there was nothing he could to to help it made him only feel worse.

He bit his lip and went back to the living room, sighing.

How could he have been so stupid?

 

~

 

Next morning, he woke up a little later than usual.

He had turned to the other side of the bed, finding it empty.

In the kitchen, he had found a note from Kei telling him he had gone to Meiji, and that he was going to come back home for lunch.

_I love you._

That was the last line.

None of the usual doodles the younger put on his notes, nothing showing some involvement in writing that down.

That note felt cold, and all in all Yabu thought he deserved it.

Tired, despite having just gotten up, he went to retrieve the bag where he had put his clothes the previous day after the filming, then he went to the laundry room.

He started taking everything out and putting the dirty clothes in the washing machine, when he felt something weird under the shirt he had in his hands.

He knew what it was, but he didn’t want to believe that until he opened the fabric and saw it fall on the ground.

It was the ring.

It was there, on the necklace, there where it had to be.

Yabu took it in his hands, looking at it through the light coming from the window, as if he was seeing it for the first time.

Then he stood up, and screamed out of joy.

He was happy.

Happy like when Kei had given it to him, happy like when every time he was with him, happy at the thought of the look on the younger’s face when he was going to see it.

He was happy, and for something so small.

He put it back around his neck, pressing it against his chest as if he wanted to avoid losing it again.

Then he went back to work, the smile never leaving his face.

 

~

 

When Kei had gotten back, Yabu had made lunch and was waiting for him at the kitchen table, with that relaxed look he had had all morning.

When he heard the door opening he rushed to meet him, grabbing the necklace and putting the ring over the shirt.

“Welcome back, Kei! Was your class okay?” he asked, joined him in the living room.

The younger turned, an eyebrow arched, and Kota was sure he was about to give him an evasive answer.

But he had seen it.

And his face had slowly lightened up, an expression which must’ve looked a lot like the one Yabu had that morning.

Inoo waked toward him, softly taking the ring between his fingers and staring at it.

“You found it.” he said, in an almost fascinated murmur.

Yabu nodded, sucking in his lips.

“It was with the clothes in my bag. Apparently I missed it last night when I looked for it.” he explained, while the other brought his arms around him and pulled him close.

“Oh, Ko! You have no idea how glad I am. I was really bothered when you said you had lost it.” Kei blushed slightly, pulling away enough to look him in the eyes. “I know it’s silly, but... since we can't be close at work, I like to look at you and see that. It makes me feel good. As if, even if I can't be with you the way I want, I still was. It’s stupid, but that’s how I feel. It may be just a ring to you, like it actually is, without any particular meaning, but...” Yabu put a hand over his mouth, shutting him up.

He felt like that moment years ago, as if Kei was trying to justify the way he felt, as if he still hadn't surrendered to the fact that it was exactly the same way he felt.

He took the hand away and leant over to kiss him.

When he pulled back, he smiled.

“I love you, Kei.” he murmured.

The younger blushed, but he was smiling as well.

“I love you too, Ko.”

Yabu knew it, it wasn’t the ring.

Kei was the one that mattered, and he was right saying that when they couldn’t be together that small object was enough to fill the emptiness.

Because it made him always feel close, because he loved him.

It was the meaning behind the ring.

It was proof that Kei loved him, and it was the most important thing he owned.

Again, he held it tight in his hand, still close to his chest.

Like he was never going to lose Kei, he wasn’t going to lose that ring ever again.


End file.
